Paris1972-Versailles2003

It seems I am blogging a lot on the latest in France, but later on will be resting on my vacation in Spain; and there is so much to tell you of my belle France!  Today was a windy cooler day with hardly any sun in my Morbihan Breton, temp is now at 19C or about 67F. While in Paris eternal is 78F and more sunshine;low tonite will be around 63F.

In continuing with the mayor’s office of Paris trying to get rid of the car/auto and many businesses as well; we have a good allied in the Prefect of Police of the region of île de France who is in charge of regulating and enforcing traffic laws on the whole. He does not like the Mayor’s ideas , and you know neither do I ::)

The Mayor idea is to redo completely the beautiful street rue de Rivoli, a central axis of the city running from the Place de la Concorde to the Place de la Bastille…!!The crazy idea is to create a cycling lane in double direction! They will get rid of the two-way lanes of automobiles today.  From now the automobile folks will conduct their travels on one Indian file lane !!!next to the bus lane and a cycling lane bidirectional of 4 meters (about 13 feet).  To this end the préfet de police or Police chief ask to get rid of this project and maintain the double lanes for automobiles next to the bus lane. Now even the taxis are complaining especially those from the taxi stand at Saint Paul (4eme) as they said rightfully so with two lanes there is already a traffic jam , and the bus lane they have to get out because of deliveries to the merchants; with one lane it will at least hell on wheels!!! To be Continue….Now see nice photo from Le Parisien newspaper here!

One more finding in France of archeological significant. They have found a little Pompeii at Sainte Colombe in the Rhône. It has already been declared by the Minister of Culture as an “exceptional discovery!” They estimate the site was occupied about 3 centuries ago and it is of 7000 m2 space quite a size. They will continue the search until September but from August it can be visited. More in French here: http://www.france24.com/fr/20170802-decouverte-petite-pompei-archeologie-rhone-vienne-france-bord-rhone

In on the archeological mindset I continue on the matter. While building some apartments in Marseille, they have found something wonderful that will save about 600 M2!!! The vestiges of the Greeks, old of 2600 years coming from the first time of the Phoenician city. Marseille is known as the oldest city in France!  The first Greek colony in Gaul founded by the Phoenicians who came from Ionia (today the Turkish coast) in 600 BC.  The quarries of the Greek antique or La Corderie done against the backdrop of the Church Notre Dame de la Garde on Bd de la Corderie, by the search of the Institut national de Recherches Archéologiques Préventive or INRAP. We are on the first times of the city about 50 years after its foundation, with the oldest traces coming from early the 6C BC. The quarries were exploited until about the 2C BC. The place is about 1200 square meters with 5-6 meters high, very near the Vieux Port where at the times it was a harbor here in the shape of a horseshoe. More here in French: http://www.tourisme-marseille.com/fiche/carriere-antique-grecque-de-la-corderie-marseille-provence/

And not antique but new design coming up as well;  on the square des Larrys,  at Puteaux. They have installed a wonderful Clock that can be seen from the lower street of the rue Monge. This is a luminous floral clock ! It was done in the shop of Huchez,from  Ferrières (Oise),and it measure 2,80 meters in diameter (about 9 feet) ; all inspired, design and assemble there. This is a well-known jeweller with a family tradition since 1832 and have done more than 2000 clocks in France with 1200 sold each year. More on Huchez here in French: https://www.horloges-huchez.fr/

Something nice ,for all ,but especially for visitors me think. The Greeters, beginning in France in the years 2000, these are volunteer guides where 60% are retirees that welcome tourists French and foreigners for tours of the city on areas they know well. The origins of this movement started in New York back in 1992; today they are present in 34 countries and 150 towns. Here in France ,they are under the Fédération France Greeters ; and the Paris branch has about 400 members able to offer you a guide in about 15 languages including Chinese! You simply need to go their site and sign on for the areas of interests to you and available dates . Not too far from me in Nantes, was one of the first branch in France and one of the most active today with about 40 members hosting about 300 tourists on average with about 30% foreigners. More on them here: http://www.greeters.online/?lang=en

There is a professional competing organization, this is the Fédération nationale des guides interprètes et conférenciers (FNGIC), 1 000 members, and not as open as the greeters. This was created in 2115 and officially open in April 2017. Their webpage is https://www.fngic.fr/en .  Then, you have the newest one the LocalBini  , trying to be the first platform of collaboration community economic dedicated to Tourist and Cultural experiences in Europe. They propose tours in Paris, Geneva, Zurich, Lisbon and since July London and Rome. The idea is simple, you sign up for free on the site and reserve an activity.  Their webpage is here! https://localbini.com/paris

Something visitors probably do not or will not understand, there is a lot more than Paris in France. And now according to a survey by Empruntis, a real estate broker one over two Parisian wants to leave Paris. Leaving a capricious climate, pollution, and crowded places or searching for better pay.  According to this study  46%  of Parisians wants to leave the city. The more expensive districts are the ones where the people wants to leave the most. Two third wants to leave the arrondissement or districts 1er, 3e, 4e, 6e ,and 8e. While a whopping 70%  of the districts 18e and 20e arrondissements would want to do that.  Even, if as a whole the region of ile-de-France  stays the one that attracts the most buyers of property. More in French on where we like to go all else been equal: http://www.empruntis.com/financement/actualites/immobilier-ou-les-francais-envisagent-ils-dacheter,8119

And now for some interesting Summer cruises in Paris:

In August the non-profit org  Freegan Pony,  that serves the unsold food at the huge market south of Paris ,Rungis,  go on a cruise !  You will see serve all along the cruise sandwiches du monde or world’s sandwiches  done with products non caliber and with a glass of rosé wine. August 26 and 27 departs from the bassin de la Villette at 19h30 , duration 2h; more here: https://www.tourisme93.com/visites/en/2384-en-juillet-le-freegan-pony-part-en-croisiere.html

A more romantic cruise ,Croisiere du vieux Paris , along the Seine to find the secrets of the canal Saint-Martin !  There will be a cruise of 2h30 making you pass by the vault tunnel of the Bastille, the wonderful passerelles of the Canal , the levies and the bridge or pont levant de Crimée ! Departing every day at 9h45 and 14h40 from the Port de l’Arsenal and 9h45 and 14h45 from the bassin de la Villette. Fridays and Saturdays at 18h from the basin de la Villette or the pont de l’Arsenal, duration 2h30. More here: https://www.tourisme93.com/visites/1743-croisiere-du-vieux-paris-sur-le-canal-saint-martin.html

Then, you have the cool Safari Boat, a cruise with music each Wednesday at sundown. Along the Seine with rhythm concerts with live DJ’s from the best at the moment such as Agar Agar, les Naive New Beaters or the  Fishback  to name a few.  You need to come quick Wednesdays from 19h departing from 2 quai Saint Bernard (5eme), reservation is obligatory. More here: http://safariboat.fr/

A Paris favorite foodies place and now in the west ,dept 92 Hauts-de-Seine. In the lower part of the harbor of Port bas d’Asniéres by the quai du Docteur Dervaux.  Here Rosa Bonheur in the west is born! The menu has tapas ham Serrano, cream of Artichoke, tarama with urchins corals or pizzas in wooden fire. La Rosa Bonheur à l’Ouest, 20  quai du Docteur Dervaux – 92600 Asnières. Open Wednesdays to Saturdays from mid day to 23h45 and Sundays from mid day to 21h. More here: http://rosabonheur.fr/events/rosa-bonheur-a-louest-cest-ouvert

The MoMA is coming to Paris. from October 11, is giving some of its works of arts to the Fondation Louis Vuitton until March 5 2018. The exposition “Etre Moderne: le MoMA à Paris, presents collections of exceptional value some never before shown in France. More than 200 works of arts retracing the history as a role of collections in the world are presented. The museum of Modern Art was created in 1929 interested in plastic arts of the times. Etre Moderne : le MoMA à Paris will show all the works acquired by the museum during this time. From the first movements of the modern art to the expressionism abstract passing by the minimalism and the pop art. You will see paintings, sculptures, stamps, photos ,films, numeric works, performances, architectural objects and design. Works from Paul Cézanne, Edward Hopper, Constantin Brancusi, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Marcel Duchamp ,and Alexander Calder to name a few will be on display. Some of the works never shown in France before will be  Les boîtes de soupe (soups cans) Campbell of Andy Warhol (1962) , and the  Identical Twins, Roselle, New Jersey of  Diane Arbus 1967.  Fondation Louis Vuitton, 8 avenue du Mahatma Gandhi , (16eme). More info here: http://www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr/en/expositions/exposition-moma0.html

All Summer from early on 7h (7am) the écurie enchantée is proposing to extend your time in the afternoons with an equestrian show. An excuse to stay later on in the day with a nice place.  It all begins from August 6th at the Villette. The place has 3000 m2  and is ready to welcome the weekends of summer all comers even the insomniacs like some of us.  In the exterior you will see the night light on the vast space of trails . Many other activities such as baby-foot, jacuzzi, badminton, arcade games or society games. All with a mega floor of dance of about 1000 m2 and the mini shops like a market, yoga courses, tattoos etc and about 500 m2 of restauration. All on Sundays in August 6-13-20-27 from 7h to 21h. More here in Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EcurieEchantee/

And let’s close this post with something all should do in Paris. Forget the public transport or even the car, the best way to see Paris is walking. Do it, try it, and keep at it. The more you walk the more you will love Paris. I have done it ,and I am not known for walking in the French sense,which is done a lot here. However, I have come used to and it is wonderful. Some of my favorite walks in Paris ,the city of romance and more.

You give yourselves a start from the métro Censier-Daubenton ; take the street rue Daubenton and go towards the Mosquée de Paris. IT would be worth to enter, admission needed but the gardens are just worth it. Come out and go back  towards the rue Monge, on the right you will pass by the discreet entrance to the  arènes de Lutèce at No 49, a jewel of Roman architecture. Go towards the Place Maubert, and stop by the Church  Saint-Julien le Pauvre by the rue Lagrange, then the  rue Galande (dating from the 12C).  Continue on to the square Viviani.The old grand tree here in the entrance to the garden is the oldest tree in Paris ! The walks continue right here to the rue de la Bucherie that allows you to walk along the bergers of the quais de Seine to come to the pretty Anglophone library of the Shakespeare & Company. We keep walking, yes!!! straight into the rue de la Huchette. You will arrive at the nice wonderful  place Saint-Michel and see the wonderful fountain here. Go around to the little pretty place Saint-André-des-Arts to link up with the boulevard Saint-Germain by the rue Suger.  I encourage you to take some time here to see the Church Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the oldest in Paris built in 1163.  Take the street rue de l’Abbaye, and look at the entrance door at no. 14, you will see the wall the hall lobby of the remains of a monks dormitory, a nice medieval vestige ! Come back to the  boulevard Saint-Germain,and take rue Bonaparte until the Church  Saint-Sulpice. You need to go in to see the paintings by Eugène Delacroix.

Another nice walk is to start from the métro Raspail.  You should see the passage d’Enfer, on the right of the rue Campagne-Première, even if unfortunately it has wrought iron grills to cover it.  You notice the beautiful house at 242 boulevard Raspail where Picasso lived for a while in 1911! Take again the  rue Campagne-Première, and see the house on no 31. Again at no 17, you will a pretty small street full of shops. And you arrive at the boulevard du Montparnasse, turn right then go until the restaurant brewery  Closerie des Lilas. This  brasserie was the site of encounters of several intellectuals like Gide or Apollinaire.  You turn to the left and take the avenue de l’Observatoire. You will end up at the Fontaine des Quatre Parties du Monde, a symbol of the urban art of the 19C.  And you see a wonderful view of the jardin du Luxembourg. You walk pass the jardin des Grands Explorateurs  until the jardin du Luxembourg  then turn left  and take the  rue Auguste Comte , then  rue Vavin,at no 26 you will see a nice building in white ceramics built by the architect Henri Sauvage.  You continue walking to rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs until rue de la Grande-Chaumière.  At the end of the street you will reach the Carrefour Vavin, today call place Pablo Picasso.  Here you will find four great brasseries or brewery restaurants such as the  Le Dôme, La Coupole, La Rotonde ,and le Select. Several artists come to here for discussions and redo the world. You cross the square Picasso and take the rue Huyghens. Continue straight until the cemetery or  cimetière du Montparnasse. Here many famous are buried such as see the tomb of  Jean-Paul Sartre ,and  Serge Gainsbourg. You come out from here and take the boulevard Edgar Quinet until the rue de la Gaîté, quant in full of theaters and bistros (one of my favorite areas of Paris!) ; you take left to the avenue du Maine until the rue Raymond Losserand, the business street of the district  and walk a further 500 meters to the rue des Thermopyles,a pretty paved street. End

The best to buy for walks in Paris is the book you can buy in all tabacs, FNAC etc is the L’Indispensable :le petit parisien. Enjoy the walks.

And have a great Friday, TGIF indeed and the weekend! Cheers!

Yesterday was a sunny calm wind day in the Morbihan Breton, looking out of my window ,it feels a slight breeze, temps at 21C or 72F. It is bug time again to write about my belle France. The countdown began for my long European summer vacation soon.

If anybody around will be by the Les Valseuses bar in old town Vannes tonite ::)  Just behind the Chateau de l’Hermine and close by the ramparts of Vannes. more here:  http://en.tourisme-vannes.com/what%E2%80%99s/going-out/824273-les-valseuses

Issues with public transport, always a nightmare in Paris if you happened to have worked there like me for 10 years; lucky some visitors that do not have to go thru this everyday.

there is work going on to renew and renovate the rails for 3,7 km (2,2 miles) of the RER A requiring the closing of the line between La Défense and Nation until August 27th. As you come out of the RER A station Auber, you will see water in the tunnel coming from the phreatic nappe at about 30 meters deep and one of the lowest point in this line. There is extraction of stones here needing to close four stations Charles-de-Gaulle/Etoile, Auber, Châtelet-les-Halles, and Gare de Lyon.  There are seven trains of 200-400 meters long doing this work according to the SNCF (France rail authority).

The work continues in the rue de Rivoli to make a bicycle lane on the bus lane now ; this will this line stop between rue de Fourcy ,and the rue Lobau in the 4eme arrondissement. They will maintain the two lanes road for cars/autos until mid October 2017. This according to the city of Paris

There is a new entrance by the rue Custine for the new station of Château-Rouge requiring closing the old entrance at the crossing of boulevard Barbés and rue Poulet in the 18eme arrondissement. The new station will be on the metro line 4 .  This according to the RATP ,the Paris region transport authority.

If you follow the news, there has been a huge delay at Montparnasse (my station luckily no need to travel there now!) The delays are going on two days! Many of the trains are been change to the station gare Austerlitz and some others to the one at Massy-Palaiseau.  This in the effort to make it possible for 3 out of 4 TGV to continue working. The SNCF has indicated the motive of this huge delays was a defect in the isolation of an electrical installation on a signal post !!!. Of course, the government criticize them for this delay but the govt knows they are on the red and do not want to bail out again!!

And Paris France has it’s Olympic Games for 2024!! making the 100 anniversary of the first one in 1924! Credit goes to Bernard Lapasset and Tony Estanguet.  The first one is former President of the International Federation of Rugby and the latter is former Olympic Champion in canoe and member of the CIO; and will be the organsier boss of the organisation committee. Los Angeles were given the games of  2028.  Giving them a bit more on Marketing period that will give them better revenues. More here: http://www.paris2024.org/fr

A landmark gone and too sad to report here from my beloved Versailles.

The librairie Puzin library opened in 1908 in the 30, rue de la Paroisse (not far from the marche Notre Dame and the Church of same name) my area…! has stop activity! The webpage here: http://librairiepuzin.com/

The last books were sold to another wonderful library in Versailles, Le Facteur Cheval. Georges Robert Puzin, a Parisien already established in Paris at the avenue Wagram, opened another one in Versailles because his wife wanted to be close to the Royal town  where her sister lived.  They first, opened at the  rue de Maurepas, and shortly after at the current address at the rue de la Paroisse. The family library story will continue as one nephew has a library in Senlis (Oise-60). History abound here, as once Marcel Proust came to lived not far at the Hôtel des Réservoirs and a year later writes in his book “L’affaire Lemoine” telling about a witness of a customer from the librairie Puzin! Versailles the owners rightfully said are of gentle, curious and culture people! Yes indeed.

I will missed stopping by or passing by for many years and even visiting the city now always stop by there. 1908 is a long time to have a library, 109 years!!!!

And after this still sad news, we go eat ice creams in Paris! Many popular ones, these are my hidden favorites.

You come to Hugo & Victor 40 bd Raspail (7eme) Mondays to Fridays and Sundays from 10h to 19h ,Saturdays from 9h to 20h, one scoop 3€ on site or 3,50€ take away. Flavors change every month, like Herbacé for August, and chocolate in September. there are more than a dozen flavors in cone or cup great:more here: http://www.hugovictor.com/shop.php

Continue onto Géronimi, 5 rue Férou (6eme) from Tuesdays to Sundays from 9h30 to 20h ,3,80€ to take away, 4,50€ on site. The owner are from Corsica and just open the shop last December. About 30 flavors with a nice Salon de Thé or in terrace.  More here: http://glacespierregeronimi.com/index.php/boutique-paris/

Lastly , in my choices you come to Senoble, 11 rue des petits-champs (1eme) open every day from 10h to 22h, minimum two scoops 3,70€ to take away or 5€ on site. It has two stores one at the île Saint Louis and other near the Palais Royal. it does 7 sorbet done on site home made with season fruits like the mandarine kalamansi or the fraise mara des bois (strawberries).  More here: https://www.senoble.com/fr

And this one is closer to me but saw an article in Le Figaro that just need to tell you about it.

In the bay of Lorient only 6 kms from the continent you have the island or île de Groix. It only has 8 kms long and 3 kms wide but it has many mysteries to geologists. On the North side as well as South is rocky coast but it has some beautiful beaches like the one at anse de Locmaria, on the south side or the beach at Grands Sables, one of the only beaches in Europe to have a convex shape! Info on the beaches here in English: http://en.plages.tv/seaside-resorts/groix-56590

The traject lasts about 45 minutes arriving at the harbor or Port Tudy by the Compagnie Océane serving the island all year around departing from the maritime station of Lorient. Round trip cost is  34,50€ per adult . There is Escal’Ouest that links the island from May to September as well  leaving from the harbor at the Cité de la Voile or Port Louis. Round trip are between  20€ to 28€ for an adult.  The island can be done with a car but is is very nice by bus with  3 lines of them with spaces ; there is one individualise minibus you can contact the  «chauffeur de Groix», at +33 (0)7.68.79.13.80. You have many bike rentals at Port Tudy as well. You can see a natural reserve such as the réserve naturelle François Le Bail, with a great mineralogical value in its rocks, schists, blue and green, micaschists unique in France. The association Bretagne Vivante organises tours and if you like to go under water the club de plongée Subagrec does baptism ,explorations, and training for scuba diving.

Links:

Compagnie Océane: http://www.compagnie-oceane.fr/reservation/?rub_code=77

Escal’Ouest: http://www.escalouest.com/lorient-groix.html

réserve naturelle François Le Bail: http://www.reserves-naturelles.org/francois-le-bail-ile-de-groix

Bretagne Vivante: http://www.bretagne-vivante.org/

Club de plongée Subagrec: http://www.subagrec.fr/

The tourist office of the île de Groix is here(French): http://www.groix.fr/?mode=presentation

And I was here on business luncheon once ,and nice memories and history behind it. For the lovers of chic Paris. The mythical Le Pére Claude, 51 avenue de la Motte-Picquet, 15eme, tel +33 (0) 1 47 34 03 05; menus at 29,50€ and 35€. Open every day. This is where Jacques Chirac and his cabinet came to eat what was offered by the previous owner a name Michel Troigros. A minimum is 3 plates serving dinner or lunch to choose from 5. We had the 29,50€ menu of  entrée, plat, café gourmand, glass of wine and water; great value/price ratio. You have 7 other specialties totaling 17 dishes to choose from ! More info here: http://www.lepereclaude.fr/

Now, let’s close this post with one of my favorite staying in France, the wines. And especially at this time, what to drink with the heat, hot summer months.  In reality all three main colors can be serve in Summer as long as we know which ones.

The rosé wines are evidently the first ones to think when we think of sun and summer, however, careful not all rosés are refreshing. The more corsés with a sustain robe are for the cooler summer times. The more dry will be be cooler and you put them all in the fridge or in a bucket of ice while serving it.

The red wines can be light and fruity for the strong heat of summers. The wines from the Val de Loire (my favorites), or the pinot noir of Alsace are good for this time. We drink them between 12 and 14C and not at room temperature. We put them in the fridge to cool and bring out the perfums.

The white wines of summer are to be drank between 8c to 12C and some like the grands of Burgundy or those of Alsace better around 10C to preserve their perfum. The most refreshing are again those from the Val de Loire, Corbiéres and Corsica.

We can serve the Champagne between 8-10C. On some are more appropiate than others in Summer. We tend to go for the extra brut with a sugar content less important.  And a final tip, serve all of them about 2C degrees less of the temperature recommended because they can warm up fast in the glass.

And, one final point on wines from Le Figaro.  The prestigious house of the Côtes-du-Rhône of the family Marcel Guigal ,especially present in the Côte-Rôtie and Saint-Joseph  just came to purchase a vinyard in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the Domaine de Nalys with 50 hectares and well known for its white wines. It was owned by the insurance group Groupama, now this vinyard oldest in the appellation with origins going back to the 17C.

The family Guigal webpage here: http://www.guigal.com/fr/

The Domaine de Nalys here: http://www.domainedenalys.com/en/

Have fun, we are in AUGUST in France; do you know what that means ? Lol!! Cheers